This isn’t a pitch for your retirement saving but rather a plea for those unreached by the Gospel. My friend is a Bible translator. This week she phoned me from an Asian country with news about her work that focuses on 2-billion people who have never heard of Jesus. She’s nearing retirement age and I asked her if she had any plans … to which she replied she’s considering going back to Botswana—a country that borders South Africa—to live in a village while teaching people about our loving Savior.
We reminisced about our time together in Botswana. I left her there at a cattle post—in a stick hut on the edge of the Kalahari Desert—about 15 years ago. We often laugh about this adventure—where her assignment was to live with an un-reached people group and develop a written language for the Bible.
I was in Botswana to write a grant for a Lutheran School there that was filled with orphans from the AIDS epidemic. We stayed with German Lutheran missionaries in a very-nice home—living in their attic apartment—with a thatched straw roof. She was preparing to leave the apartment and travel to the cattle post where she would live with a tribe of people for over a year and learn their spoken language.
I remember the day we hopped into the German missionary’s pick-up truck …. filled with jerry cans of gasoline because there are no gas stations in the desert. It was a day’s drive to our destination and I was speechless in wonder of God’s miraculous creation. It’s one thing to see zebras and rhinos in the zoo, but to watch them striding or running in the African bush was amazing.
At nightfall we arrived at the cattle post—where we were directed to our tents. There was a big fire burning outside the circle of tents and wearily we cooked the food we brought with us. I had never been to a cattle post before—so I wasn’t prepared for the smell and the flies that assaulted me as I tried to eat my dinner. I gave up and headed for bed. In the morning we said our tearful goodbyes to my friend and headed back—hoping we’d brought enough gas to make the return trip and praying that our friend would be safe. (I later learned the big fire that burned all night was to keep the lions away from the cattle.)
Maybe your retirement won’t be as exciting as my friend’s—but you can serve Christ in many exciting ways with Most Ministries and LCMS missions. Stop by our display after church on Dec. 6, 9 or 10 and be ready to see a world or opportunities waiting—just for you!
